Radio access network resource configuration for groups of mobile devices

ABSTRACT

A device, computer-readable medium, and method for activating antennas based upon a location and a movement of a group of mobile endpoint devices are disclosed. For example, a method may include a processor of a cellular network detecting a group of mobile endpoint devices associated with a first location and activating a first antenna at a first cell site of the cellular network associated with the first location, in response to detecting the group of mobile endpoint devices. The processor may further detect a movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices toward a second location, and activate a second antenna at a second cell site of the cellular network associated with the second location and deactivate the first antenna, in response to detecting the movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices toward the second location.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/222,697, filed Jul. 28, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,730,135, which isherein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The present disclosure relates generally to methods, computer-readablemedia and devices for activating antennas based upon a location and amovement of a group of mobile endpoint devices.

BACKGROUND

Upgrading a telecommunication network to a software defined network(SDN) architecture implies replacing or augmenting existing networkelements that may be integrated to perform a single function with newnetwork elements. The replacement technology may comprise a substrate ofnetworking capability, often called network function virtualizationinfrastructure (NFVI) that is capable of being directed with softwareand SDN protocols to perform a broad variety of network functions andservices. Different locations in the telecommunication network may beprovisioned with appropriate amounts of network substrate, and to theextent possible, routers, switches, edge caches, middle-boxes, and thelike may be instantiated from the common resource pool.

SUMMARY

In one example, the present disclosure discloses a device,computer-readable medium, and method for activating antennas based upona location and a movement of a group of mobile endpoint devices. Forexample, a method may include a processor of a cellular networkdetecting a group of mobile endpoint devices associated with a firstlocation and activating a first antenna at a first cell site of thecellular network associated with the first location, in response todetecting the group of mobile endpoint devices. The processor mayfurther detect a movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices towarda second location, activate a second antenna at a second cell site ofthe cellular network associated with the second location, in response todetecting the movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices towardthe second location, and deactivate the first antenna, in response todetecting the movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices towardthe second location.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teachings of the present disclosure can be readily understood byconsidering the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system related to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an additional example system related to the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for activatingantennas based upon a location and a movement of a group of mobileendpoint devices; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a high-level block diagram of a computing devicespecially configured to perform the functions, methods, operations andalgorithms described herein.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure broadly discloses methods, computer-readablemedia and apparatuses for activating antennas based upon a location anda movement of a group of mobile endpoint devices. Examples of thepresent disclosure increase situational awareness within a cellularnetwork by leveraging analytics to predict specific edge networklocation bandwidth needs and mitigating the bandwidth needs by invokingradio access network (RAN) and distributed core network self-optimizingnetwork (SON) feature automation. Examples of the present disclosureutilize network operation and network device location data, in additionto mobile endpoint device data to predict consumption trends and thethroughput density needs for popular applications and services. Bytracking users' mobile endpoint devices, examples of the presentdisclosure estimate in real-time where, when, and how many mobileendpoint devices will need bandwidth, and the types and quantities ofbandwidth that are needed. This information is collected in real-timesuch that a SON orchestrator may determine where and how many resources,such as remote radio heads and baseband units, should be activated at agiven site. For example, the throughput density needs for the mostpopular applications or services can be predicted. As a consequence, theSON orchestrator may acquire enough information to allocate the accessresources (e.g., remote radio heads and baseband units) to the relevantlocations so that consumption peaks are absorbed smoothly withoutcompromising quality of service (QoS), user experience, and customersatisfaction.

Examples of the present disclosure account for the capabilities andneeds of mobile endpoint devices, in addition to the availability andlocations of network resources. For instance, a mobile endpoint devicemay have multiple radios for communication via different frequency bandsand/or utilizing different technologies. The mobile endpoint device mayhave all of its radios turned on, and may be connected to theappropriate network resources depending on what is nearby and what kindof application(s) is/are being used. In addition, in one example, a SONorchestrator may further include or coordinate with a software-definednetwork (SDN) controller to deploy additional network-based resources,such as virtual network functions (VNFs), or “virtual machines,”instantiated on host devices. For instance, host devices, which may alsobe referred to as network function virtualization infrastructure (NFVI),may be configured or reconfigured to function as additional routers,gateways, switches, and the like to support the additional bandwidth andtraffic that may result from the activation of the one or moreadditional antennas at a cell site.

Examples of the present disclosure may relate to detecting groups ofmobile endpoint devices that are collocated and which are moving in asame direction, and activating or allocating network resources basedupon the current location of the group, and based upon a detection of amovement of the group toward another location. In one example, the groupof mobile endpoint devices may also be utilizing a same application orservice, or similar applications or services. For instance, a largenumber of users may be participating in a parade or demonstration with aroute through a city. During the parade, the users may take manypictures or videos and upload the media to social media accounts ormedia sharing sites, may send the media to friends and family via email,multimedia messaging, and so forth. The users may similarly place manyphone calls during the event. In one example, the users may specificallybe utilizing the same shared application that has been designated foruse during the event, such as uploading pictures to a particular hashtagrelated to a group chat application.

Examples of the present disclosure may account for the aggregatebandwidth needs of the group of mobile endpoint devices by determining,e.g., by a SON orchestrator, the congregation of mobile endpoint devicesat a first location and activating or allocating network resources basedupon the number of devices, the actual or anticipated bandwidthutilizations of the mobile endpoint devices, and so forth. For instance,the SON orchestrator may activate one or more antennas/remote radioheads of a higher frequency band relative to antennas of lower frequencybands that may be available (e.g., using antennas for a 1900 MHz bandinstead of antennas for an 850 MHz band). For instance, the mobileendpoint devices in the group may primarily be outdoors where the 1900MHz band better protects against inter-cell interference, and where thebetter in-building signal penetration of the 850 MHz band is lessimportant. In another example, the group of mobile endpoint devices mayprimarily be engaged in voice calls or data usage (e.g., utilizing amultimedia messaging application) which may warrant utilizing the 850MHz band or the 1900 MHz band, respectively. In one example, the SONorchestrator may further allocate one or more baseband units to the oneor more antennas that are activated, e.g., in a cloud radio accessnetwork (RAN) environment. For instance, in a cloud RAN, theantennas/remote radio heads may be located on rooftops, or at the top ofa cell site mast, whereas the baseband units may be located at anentirely different location, and where a pool of baseband units may beavailable to service multiple cell sites and/or multiple antennas/remoteradio heads that may be deployed at different locations.

In one example, a SON orchestrator may further activate and allocate oneor more antennas and baseband units associated with a different cellsite as the group of mobile endpoint devices moves from one location toanother. The SON orchestrator may further de-activate the antenna(s) atthe first cell site and de-allocate the baseband unit(s) allocated tosuch antennas when the group of mobile endpoint devices has moved beyondthe first location. It should be noted that the terms “activate” and“de-activate” encompass the scope of causing the antenna to be able toreceive signals (e.g., the antenna is activated) and not be able toreceive signals (e.g., the antenna is deactivated). Any number ofapproaches can be employed to bring about the activation anddeactivation of an antenna, e.g., providing or removing power to theantenna, and so on. These and other aspects of the present disclosureare discussed in greater detail below in connection with the examples ofFIGS. 1-4.

In addition, it should be noted that as referred to herein, the terms“configure” and “reconfigure” may refer to programming or loading acomputing device with computer-readable/computer-executableinstructions, code, and/or programs, e.g., in a memory, which whenexecuted by a processor of the computing device, may cause the computingdevice to perform various functions. Such terms may also encompassproviding variables, data values, tables, objects, or other datastructures or the like which may cause a computer device executingcomputer-readable instructions, code, and/or programs to functiondifferently depending upon the values of the variables or other datastructures that are provided.

To better understand the present disclosure, FIG. 1 illustrates anexample network, or system 100 in which embodiments of the presentdisclosure for activating antennas based upon a location and a movementof a group of mobile endpoint devices may operate. In one example, thesystem 100 comprises a cellular network 101 (e.g., a 4G/Long TermEvolution (LTE) network), an IP network 113, and a core network, e.g.,an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) core network 115. In one example,system 100 is provided and operated by a cellular/wireless networkoperator. FIG. 1 also illustrates various mobile endpoint devices 116and 117, e.g., user equipment or user endpoints (UE). The mobileendpoint devices UE 116 and 117 may each comprise a cellular telephone,a smartphone, a tablet computing device, a laptop computer, a pair ofcomputing glasses, a wireless enabled wristwatch, or any othercellular-capable mobile telephony and computing device (broadly, “mobileendpoint devices”).

In one example, the LTE network 101 comprises an access network 103 anda core network, Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network 105. In one example,the access network 103 comprises a cloud RAN. For instance, a cloud RANis part of the 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5Gspecifications for mobile networks. As part of the migration of cellularnetworks towards 5G, a cloud RAN may be coupled to an EPC network untilnew cellular core networks are deployed in accordance with 5Gspecifications. In this regard, access network 103 may include cellsites 111 and 112 and a baseband unit (BBU) pool 114. In a cloud RAN,antennas, also referred to as remote radio heads, are deployed remotelyfrom baseband units, e.g., atop cell site masts, buildings, and soforth. In one example, the BBU pool 114 may be located at distances asfar as 20-80 kilometers or more away from the antennas/remote radioheads of cell sites 111 and 112 that are serviced by the BBU pool 114.It should also be noted in accordance with efforts to migrate to 5Gnetworks, cell sites may be deployed with new antenna and radioinfrastructures such as multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antennas,and millimeter wave antennas. In this regard, the cell, e.g., thefootprint or coverage area of a cell site may in some instances besmaller than the coverage provided by NodeBs or eNodeBs of 3G-4G RANinfrastructure. For example, the coverage of a cell site utilizing oneor more millimeter wave antennas may be 1000 feet or less.

In one example, the EPC network 105 provides various functions thatsupport wireless services in the LTE environment. In one example, EPCnetwork 105 is an Internet Protocol (IP) packet core network thatsupports both real-time and non-real-time service delivery across a LTEnetwork, e.g., as specified by the 3GPP standards. In one example, allcell sites in the access network 103 are in communication with the EPCnetwork 105 via baseband units in BBU pool 114. In operation, mobileendpoint device UE 116 may access wireless services via the cell site111 and mobile endpoint device UE 117 may access wireless services viathe cell site 112 located in the access network 103. It should be notedthat any number of cell sites can be deployed in access network. In oneillustrative example, the access network 103 may comprise one or morecell sites.

In EPC network 105, network devices such as Mobility Management Entity(MME) 107 and Serving Gateway (SGW) 108 support various functions aspart of the LTE network 101. For example, MME 107 is the control nodefor the LTE access network. In one embodiment, MME 107 is responsiblefor UE (User Equipment) tracking and paging (e.g., such asretransmissions), bearer activation and deactivation process, selectionof the SGW, and authentication of a user. In one embodiment, SGW 108routes and forwards user data packets, while also acting as the mobilityanchor for the user plane during inter-cell handovers and as the anchorfor mobility between LTE and other wireless technologies, such as 2G and3G wireless networks.

In addition, EPC network 105 may comprise a Home Subscriber Server (HSS)109 that contains subscription-related information (e.g., subscriberprofiles), performs authentication and authorization of a wirelessservice user, and provides information about the subscriber's location.The EPC network 105 may also comprise a public data network (PDN)gateway 110 which serves as a gateway that provides access between theEPC network 105 and various data networks, e.g., other IP networks 113,an IMS core network 115, and the like. The public data network gatewayis also referred to as a PDN gateway, a PDN GW or a PGW. In addition,the EPC network 105 may include a Diameter routing agent (DRA) 106,which may be engaged in the proper routing of messages between otherelements within EPC network 105, and with other components of the system100, such as a call session control function (CSCF) (not shown) in IMScore network 115. For clarity, the connections between DRA 106 and othercomponents of EPC network 105 are omitted from the illustration of FIG.1.

In accordance with the present disclosure, any one or more of thecomponents of EPC network 105 may comprise network functionvirtualization infrastructure (NFVI), e.g., SDN host devices (i.e.,physical devices) configured to operate as various virtual networkfunctions (VNFs), such as a virtual MME (vMME), a virtual HHS (vHSS), avirtual serving gateway (vSGW), a virtual packet data network gateway(vPGW), and so forth. For instance, MME 107 may comprise a vMME, SGW 108may comprise a vSGW, and so forth. In this regard, the EPC network 105may be expanded (or contracted) to include more or less components thanthe state of EPC network 105 that is illustrated in FIG. 1. Forinstance, EPC network 105 may be expanded to include additional PDNgateways, e.g., in the form of vPGWs, additional serving gateways(SGWs), e.g., in the form of vSGWs, and so forth. In one example, theSDN host devices may be deployed in one or more geographically diversedata centers. Accordingly, in one example, the network may be segregatedinto a number of zones, where different VNFs may be deployed indifferent zones depending upon the respective locations of the one ormore data centers.

In one example, the EPC network 105 may also include an applicationserver (AS) 190. In one example, AS 190 may function as aself-optimizing network (SON) orchestrator that is responsible foractivating and deactivating, allocating and deallocating, and otherwisemanaging a variety of network components. For instance, AS 190 mayactivate and deactivate antennas/remote radio heads of cell sites 111and 112, respectively, may allocate and deactivate baseband units in BBUpool 114, and may perform other operations for activating antennas basedupon a location and a movement of a group of mobile endpoint devices, inaccordance with the present disclosure. In one example, AS 190 maycomprise a computing system, such as computing system 400 depicted inFIG. 4, and may be configured to provide one or more functions foractivating antennas based upon a location and a movement of a group ofmobile endpoint devices, and for performing various other operations inaccordance with the present disclosure. For instance, AS 190 may beconfigured to perform functions such as those described below inconnection with the example method 300 of FIG. 3.

Accordingly, the AS 190 may be connected directly or indirectly to anyone or more network elements of EPC network 105, and of the system 100in general, that are configured to gather and forward network analyticinformation, such as signaling and traffic data, alarm data, and otherinformation and statistics to AS 190 and to receive instructions from AS190.

In one example, AS 190 may further comprise a SDN controller that isresponsible for instantiating, configuring, managing, and releasingVNFs. For example, in a SDN architecture, a SDN controller mayinstantiate VNFs on shared hardware, e.g., NFVI/host devices/SDN nodes,which may be physically located in various places. For example SDN nodesmay reside in various data centers distributed in different locations.For example, a router may be instantiated on a SDN node, and releasedwhen the router is no longer needed. Similarly, a media server may beinstantiated on a SDN node, and released when no longer needed. In oneexample, the configuring, releasing, and reconfiguring of SDN nodes iscontrolled by the SDN controller, which may store configuration codes,e.g., computer/processor-executable programs, instructions, or the likefor various functions which can be loaded onto an SDN node. In anotherexample, the SDN controller may instruct, or request an SDN node toretrieve appropriate configuration codes from a network-basedrepository, e.g., a storage device, to relieve the SDN controller fromhaving to store and transfer configuration codes for various functionsto the SDN nodes.

In accordance with the present disclosure, AS 190 may therefore controlvarious components within EPC network 105 and/or within access network103 to support the traffic that is accommodated by the activation ofantennas/remote radio heads of cell sites 111 and 112, respectively andthe allocation of baseband units in BBU pool 114. For instance, AS 190(e.g., performing functions of a SON orchestrator) may activate anantenna of cell site 111 and assign a baseband unit in BBU pool 114 whena group of mobile endpoint devices is detected near the cell site 111.AS 190 (e.g., performing functions of a SDN controller) may furtherinstantiate VNFs to function as routers, switches, gateways, and thelike to ensure that sufficient backhaul resources are available for thetraffic to transit the access network 103 and/or EPC network 105. Inaddition, as mentioned above, any one or more of the DRA 106, MME 107,SGW 108, HSS 109, and PGW 110 may comprise VNFs instantiated on hostdevices. As such, AS 190 may perform similar operations to instantiate,configure, reconfigure, and decommission such components in support ofexamples of the present disclosure for activating antennas based upon alocation and a movement of a group of mobile endpoint devices. In oneexample, AS 190 may communicate with various components of EPC network105 and access network 103 in order to gather information in support ofoperations for activating antennas based upon a location and a movementof a group of mobile endpoint devices. For instance, in one example, AS190 may gather mobile endpoint device location information and mobileendpoint device application/service utilization information from cellsites 111 and 112. In one example, AS 190 may further gather statusinformation regarding cell sites 111 and 112 and BBU pool 114. Forexample, AS 190 may obtain information regarding the current trafficloads at cell sites 111 and 112, daily and hourly peak traffic loads,the available bandwidth for active antennas, the number of deactivatedantennas, and so forth, the current traffic load of allocated basebandunits in BBU pool 114, the number of available baseband units that arenot currently allocated, and so forth. Alternatively, or in addition, AS190 may gather status information, such as a current load, a currentcapacity, a daily or hourly peak load, and so forth from MME 107, SGW108, and/or PGW 110, where such information may be used by AS 190 todetermine whether additional MMEs, SGWs, PGWs, and other intermediatecomponents should be deployed to accommodate anticipated increases intraffic from a group of mobile endpoint devices. Due to the relativelylarge number of connections available between AS 190 and other networkelements, none of the actual links to the application server are shownin FIG. 1. Similarly, intermediate devices and links between DRA 106,MME 107, SGW 108, eNodeBs 111 and 112, PDN gateway 110, and othercomponents of system 100 are also omitted for clarity, such asadditional routers, switches, gateways, and the like.

The foregoing description of the system 100 is provided as anillustrative example only. In other words, the example of system 100 ismerely illustrative of one network configuration that is suitable forimplementing embodiments of the present disclosure. As such, otherlogical and/or physical arrangements for the system 100 may beimplemented in accordance with the present disclosure. For example, thesystem 100 may be expanded to include additional networks, such asnetwork operations center (NOC) networks, additional access networks,and so forth. The system 100 may also be expanded to include additionalnetwork elements such as border elements, routers, switches, policyservers, security devices, gateways, a content distribution network(CDN) and the like, without altering the scope of the presentdisclosure. In addition, system 100 may be altered to omit variouselements, substitute elements for devices that perform the same orsimilar functions, combine elements that are illustrated as separatedevices, and/or implement network elements as functions that are spreadacross several devices that operate collectively as the respectivenetwork elements. For instance, in one example, AS 190 may be spilt intoseparate components to operate as a SON orchestrator and a SDNcontroller, respectively. Similarly, although the AS 190 is illustratedas a component of EPC network 105, in another example AS 190, and/orother network components may be deployed in an IMS core network 115instead of being deployed within the EPC network 105, or in otherportions of system 100 that are not shown, while providing essentiallythe same functionality.

In addition, although aspects of the present disclosure have beendiscussed above in the context of a long term evolution (LTE)-basedwireless network, examples of the present disclosure are not so limited.Thus, the teachings of the present disclosure can be applied to othertypes of wireless networks (e.g., a 2G network, a 3G network, a 5Gnetwork, an integrated network, e.g., including any two or more of 2G-5Ginfrastructure and technologies, and the like), that are suitable foruse in connection with examples of the present disclosure for activatingantennas based upon a location and a movement of a group of mobileendpoint devices. Thus, these and other modifications are allcontemplated within the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an additional example network, or system 200 in whichembodiments of the present disclosure for activating antennas based upona location and a movement of a group of mobile endpoint devices mayoperate. In one example, system 200 may represent at least a portion ofa cellular/wireless network. For instance, system 200 may representcertain self-optimizing network (SON) aspects of the network, or system100 of FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 2, system 200 may include a SONorchestrator 250, e.g., a server having at least a processor and acomputer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed bythe processor, cause the processor to perform functions for activatingantennas based upon a location and a movement of a group of mobileendpoint devices, and for performing various other operations inaccordance with the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the SONorchestrator 250 may correspond to AS 190 of the example of FIG. 1. Inone embodiment, the SON orchestrator 250 may comprise a computingsystem, such as computing system 400 depicted in FIG. 4. In oneembodiment, the SON orchestrator 250 may comprise a plurality of devicesthat may be co-located, or in distributed locations, and that performcoordinated functions of an SON orchestrator, as described herein.

The system 200 may also include antennas 291 and 292, which may comprisecomponents of different cell sites associated with different locations230 and 235, respectively. In one example, the first location 230 andthe second location 235 may comprise respective “geofences” surroundingthe antenna 291 and the antenna 292, respectively. For instance, in oneexample, the first location 230 may comprise an RF coverage area of theantenna 291, and the second location 232 may comprise an RF coveragearea of the antenna 292. Antennas 291 and 292 may also be connected to aBBU pool 240 with a number of baseband units (BBUs) 241-244. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, the BBU pool 240 may be connected to the SONorchestrator 250. It should be noted that the links between antennas 291and 292 and the BBU pool 240, and between BBU pool 240 and SONorchestrator 250 may be direct links, e.g., optical or electrical linkswithout intervening components, or may include any number ofintermediate devices, such as additional routers, switches, repeaters,and so forth. It should also be noted that although antennas 291 and 292are illustrated in FIG. 2 as being connected to SON orchestrator via BBUpool 240, in another example, the SON orchestrator and antennas 291 and292 may be connected via different paths with different links and/orintermediate devices, and which do not include BBU pool 240.

As further illustrated in FIG. 2, a number of mobile endpoint devices201-219 may receive cellular services from the system 200. The SONorchestrator 250 may be in communication with the cell sites of antennas291 and 292 to receive information regarding the locations of variousmobile endpoint devices. For example, the SON orchestrator 250 maydetermine the locations of the mobile endpoint devices if the mobileendpoint devices transmit Global Positioning System (GPS) locationreadings to the SON orchestrator 250, or to another network-based devicethat is accessible to the SON orchestrator 250, or may determine thelocations of the mobile endpoint devices in another way, such as usingcellular base station triangulation techniques, or by estimating thelocations of the mobile endpoint devices based upon received signalstrength indicators (RSSIs), the serving base stations/cell sites,nearby Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11access points or IEEE 802.15 beacons, and so forth. In one example, SONorchestrator 250 may further gather status information regarding thecell sites of antennas 291 and 292, and of BBU pool 240. For example,SON orchestrator 250 may obtain information regarding the currenttraffic loads at the cell sites, daily and hourly peak traffic loads,the available bandwidth for active antennas, the number of deactivatedantennas, and so forth, the current traffic load of allocated basebandunits in BBU pool 240, the number of available baseband units that arenot currently allocated, and so forth.

In one example, SON orchestrator 250 may determine that a number ofmobile endpoint devices may comprise a group at the first location 230.For example, SON orchestrator 250 may determine that mobile endpointdevices 201-215 are all at or within the first location 230, and thusmay consider that all of mobile endpoint devices 201-215 are members ofa group at the first location 230. In one example, SON orchestrator 250may consider other factors in determining which mobile endpoint devicesmay comprise a group. For example, the SON orchestrator 250 maydetermine that mobile endpoint devices 201-215 are utilizing the same orsimilar applications or services, such as voice call applications, emailapplications, text messaging applications, multimedia messagingapplications, social media applications, gaming applications, and soforth. In one example, SON orchestrator 250 may also determine that atleast endpoint devices 201-215 comprise a group if the mobile endpointdevices 201-215 share a same general direction of movement. For example,mobile endpoint devices 201-215 may be determined to be moving in thedirection indicated by the arrow 270. In one example, the direction(s)of movement of mobile endpoint devices may be determined using the sameor similar information that is utilized to determine the positions ofthe mobile endpoint devices, e.g., using changes in GPS locationinformation over time, or the like. It should be noted that in oneexample, the SON coordinator may also determine that mobile endpointdevices 216-219 are part of the group even though the mobile endpointdevices 216-219 are not strictly within the first region 230. Forinstance, mobile endpoint devices 216-219 may be observed to be nearbyto other mobile endpoint devices that are within the group (e.g., mobileendpoint devices 201-215) and may also be observed to be moving in thesame general direction as indicated by the arrow 270. Thus, in oneexample, mobile endpoint devices 216-219 may be sufficiently associatedwith mobile endpoint devices 201-215, e.g., in terms of being within acertain proximity, having a same general direction of movement, and/orhaving the same or similar application/service usage profile. However,for illustrative purposes, the present example will consider the groupas including mobile endpoint devices 201-215 and excluding mobileendpoint devices 216-219.

In one example, the SON orchestrator 250 may determine the traffic load,or the anticipated traffic load of the group of mobile endpoint devices201-215. For instance, a collective traffic load and/or networkutilization level of the mobile endpoint devices 201-215 for a giventime period may be used to predict the traffic load and/or networkutilization level at a current or future time period. In particular, itmay be assumed that the traffic load and/or network utilization levelmay continue to be the same for a time period of the same duration. Inone example, the SON orchestrator 250 may determine that the trafficload and/or network utilization level relates to a particularapplication or service, or a class of applications or services. Forinstance, as mentioned above, the mobile endpoint devices 201-215 may befound to be utilizing the same or similar applications and/or the SONorchestrator may determine a most popular application being used amongthe mobile endpoint devices 201-215.

In addition, in one example, SON orchestrator 250 may allocate one ormore antennas, e.g., antenna 291, and one or more baseband units, e.g.,baseband unit 244, based upon the presence of the group of mobileendpoint devices 201-215 at the first location 230. For instance, whenthe group of mobile endpoint devices 201-215 is present at the firstlocation 230 and when the anticipated traffic load and/or networkutilization level may exceed the current capacity of a cell siteassociated with the first location 230, the SON orchestrator 250 mayactivate antenna 291. In addition, the SON orchestrator 250 may allocatebaseband unit 244 to the antenna 291, as well as ensure that additionalresources, such as backhaul links, are in place to support the basebandunit 244 and antenna 291. Accordingly, the system 200 may then providenetwork services to mobile endpoint devices 201-215 via antenna 291. Itshould be noted that one or more additional antennas and/or basebandunits may be activated and/or allocated for groups of mobile endpointdevices at or near one or both of the cell sites associated withantennas 291 and 292, respectively. However, until such time as theseadditional resources are deployed, the mobile endpoint devices maycommunicate with network based devices, such as SON orchestrator 250using other access network infrastructures, such as other currentlyactive antennas as the respective cell sites, and so forth.

In one example, the antenna 291 is selected for activation based upon atype of application utilized by the mobile endpoint devices 201-215,e.g., a primary type of application, such a most popular applicationthat is in use among the mobile endpoint devices in the group. Forexample, the antenna 291 may be selected from among a plurality ofantennas at a cell site associated with the first location 230, whereinthe plurality of antennas includes antennas for different frequencybands. To illustrate, the group of mobile endpoint devices 201-215 mayprimarily be engaged in voice calls or data usage (e.g., utilizing amultimedia messaging application) which may warrant utilizing an antennafor the 850 MHz band or the 1900 MHz band, respectively.

As mentioned above, SON orchestrator 250 may also determine a directionof movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices 201-215. Forinstance, the group of mobile endpoint devices 201-215 may generally bemoving in the direction of arrow 270, e.g., toward the second location235. In one example, the direction of movement of the group may bedetermined from location information of the mobile endpoint devices, asdescribed above. However, in one example, SON orchestrator 250 maydetermine that the group of mobile endpoint devices 201-215 may bemoving toward the second location 235 when it is detected that athreshold number of mobile endpoint devices from the group are presentwithin a geofence associated with the second location 235. For instance,at an instant in time as illustrated in FIG. 2, endpoint devices 201-205are also present at or within the second location 235. Thus, if athreshold is set at 30 percent of the group, it may be determined thatat that instant in time as illustrated in FIG. 2, the group of mobileendpoint devices 201-215 is moving toward the second location 235.

In one example, SON orchestrator 250 may also activate one or moreantennas of a cell site associated with the second location 235, e.g.,antenna 292, and allocate one or more baseband units of BBU pool 240,e.g., BBU 243, to the antenna 292, when it is detected that the group ofmobile endpoint devices 201-215 is moving toward the second location235. For instance, when it is detected that the group of mobile endpointdevices 201-215 is moving toward the second location 235 and when theanticipated traffic load and/or network utilization level may exceed thecurrent capacity of a cell site associated with the second location 235,the SON orchestrator 250 may activate antenna 292. In addition, the SONorchestrator 250 may allocate baseband unit 243 to the antenna 292, aswell as ensure that additional resources, such as backhaul links, are inplace to support the baseband unit 243 and antenna 292. Accordingly, thesystem 200 may then provide network services to mobile endpoint devices201-215 via antenna 292. In addition, SON orchestrator 250 maydeactivate antenna 291 and deallocate baseband unit 244 in conjunctionwith the activating of the antenna 292 and allocation of baseband unit243, e.g., at or around the same time, or at a different time, such aswhen 60 percent of the group has moved to the second location 235 orwhen 60 percent of the group has left the first location 230, and soforth.

It should be noted that the foregoing describes just one example inconnection with FIG. 2 for detecting a group of mobile endpoint devicesthat are collocated and which are moving in a same direction, andactivating or allocating network resources based upon the currentlocation of the group, and based upon a detection of a movement of thegroup toward another location. For instance, in a different example,additional antennas at each cell site associated with locations 230 and235, and/or additional baseband units may be activated and allocated. Inanother example, different BBU pools may be available such that antennas291 and 292 may be allocated baseband units from different BBU pools.Thus, these and other variations are all contemplated within the scopeof the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 300 for activatingantennas based upon a location and a movement of a group of mobileendpoint devices. In one embodiment, the steps, operations or functionsof the method 300 may be performed by any one or more of the componentsof the system 100 depicted in FIG. 1 or the system 200 of FIG. 2. Forexample, in one embodiment, the method 300 is performed by theapplication server (AS) 190. In another embodiment, the method 300 isperformed by AS 190 in coordination with other components of the system100. In another example, the method 300 is performed by SON orchestrator250 of FIG. 2, or by SON orchestrator 250 in conjunction with othercomponents of the system 200. Alternatively, or in addition, one or moresteps, operations or functions of the method 300 may be implemented by acomputing device having a processor, a memory and input/output devicesas illustrated below in FIG. 4, specifically programmed to perform thesteps, functions and/or operations of the method. Although any one ofthe elements in system 100 of FIG. 1 or system 200 of FIG. 2 may beconfigured to perform various steps, operations or functions of themethod 300, the method will now be described in terms of an embodimentwhere steps of the method are performed by a processor, such asprocessor 402 in FIG. 4. For example, processor 402 may be deployed in acellular network to perform the method 300.

The method 300 begins in step 305 and proceeds to step 310. In step 310,the processor detects a group of mobile endpoint devices associated witha first location. In one example, step 310 may include detecting anumber of mobile endpoint devices greater than a threshold number ofmobile endpoint devices having a same direction of movement and presentat or within the first location, e.g., within a geofence associated withthe first location, wherein the number of mobile endpoint devicescomprises the group of mobile endpoint devices. In one example, theprocessor may determine the locations of the mobile endpoint devicesfrom GPS location readings sent by the mobile endpoint devices to theprocessor or to another network-based device that is accessible to theprocessor, or may determine the locations of the mobile endpoint devicesin another way, such as using cellular base station triangulationtechniques, or by estimating the locations of the mobile endpointdevices based upon RSSIs, the serving base stations/cell sites, nearbyIEEE 802.11 access points or IEEE 802.15 beacons, and so forth. Inaddition, in one example, the processor may determine the directions ofmovement of the mobile endpoint devices in the group using the same orsimilar information. For instance, the processor may determine thedirection of movement for a mobile endpoint device based upon a changein location as indicated by GPS location information of the mobileendpoint device over a given time period.

At optional step 315, the processor may detect a type of applicationbeing used by the group of mobile endpoint devices. The type ofapplication may be a primary application or service that is being usedby the group of mobile endpoint devices, e.g., the most popularapplication or the most heavily utilized application among the mobileendpoint devices in the group. In one example, the processor mayassociate mobile endpoint devices with the group when the mobileendpoint devices are collocated, e.g., the devices are at the samelocation, have a same direction of movement, and are utilizing the sameapplication or service, or the same type of application or service asthe other mobile endpoint devices in the group. For instance, mobileendpoint devices that are using a group chat application, and which arecollocated and have a same direction of movement may be considered to bein the group.

At optional step 320, the processor may select a first antenna at afirst cell site for activation based upon the type of application. Inone example, the first antenna may be selected from among a plurality ofantennas at the first cell site, wherein the plurality of antennasincludes antennas for different frequency bands. For example, the groupof mobile endpoint devices may primarily be engaged in voice calls ordata usage (e.g., utilizing a multimedia messaging application) whichmay warrant utilizing an antenna for the 850 MHz band or the 1900 MHzband, respectively. As such, optional step 320 may comprise selecting anantenna for one of the frequency bands based upon such criteria.

At step 325, the processor activates the first antenna at the first cellsite of the cellular network associated with the first location, inresponse to detecting the group of mobile endpoint devices. Forinstance, the first antenna may be one of a plurality of antennas at thefirst cell site that may be deactivated, e.g., not in use and/or powereddown, but which may be available to be activated and placed into servicebased upon a remote command from the processor.

At optional step 330, the processor may allocate a first baseband unitof the cellular network to the first antenna, when the first antenna isactivated. For instance, the first baseband unit may be selected from abaseband unit pool that may include a plurality of baseband units thatmay be assigned to different antennas/remote radio heads, at one or morecell sites/base stations. The first baseband unit may be located at abase of the first cell site, or may be located 20-80 kilometers or moreaway from the first cell site and the first antenna. In one example, theprocessor may further instantiate VNFs to function as routers, switches,gateways, and the like to ensure that sufficient backhaul resources areavailable for the traffic of the group of mobile endpoint devices.

At step 335, the processor detects a movement of the group of mobileendpoint devices toward a second location. In one example, the movementof the group of mobile endpoint devices toward the second location isdetected when a threshold number of endpoint devices from the group ofmobile endpoint devices are present within a geofence associated withthe second location, e.g., 25 percent of the group, 30 percent of thegroup, etc. The presence of the mobile endpoint devices at the secondlocation may be determined using the same or similar information asdiscussed above, e.g., using GPS location readings, cellular basestation triangulation techniques, RSSIs, the serving base stations/cellsites, nearby IEEE 802.11 access points or IEEE 802.15 beacons, and soforth.

At step 340, the processor activates a second antenna at a second cellsite of the cellular network associated with the second location, inresponse to detecting the movement of the group of mobile endpointdevices toward the second location. In one example, step 340 maycomprise the same or similar operations as discussed above in connectionwith step 325. For instance, the second antenna may be selected basedupon a type of primary application being used by the group of mobileendpoint devices, an anticipated network load, etc.

At optional step 345, the processor may allocate a second baseband unitof the cellular network to the second antenna, when the second antennais activated. In one example, optional step 345 may comprise the same orsimilar operations as discussed above in connection with optional step330. In one example, the second baseband unit may be allocated from asame baseband unit pool as the first baseband unit. In another example,the second baseband unit may be allocated from a different baseband unitpool that may be physically located in a different location.

At step 350, the processor deactivates the first antenna, in response todetecting the movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices headingtoward the second location. In one example, step 350 may be performed incoordination with step 340. In one example, step 350 may be performedwhen the movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices toward thesecond location is detected and when a sufficient portion of the groupof mobile endpoint devices has left the first location, e.g., when 60percent of the group has moved to the second location or when 60 percentof the group has left the first location, and so forth.

At optional step 355, the processor may deallocate the first basebandunit from the first antenna, when the first antenna is deactivated. Assuch, the first baseband unit may then be reassigned to a differentantenna/remote radio head and/or shut down for an extended period oftime to conserve power, and so on.

Following step 350, or following optional step 355, the method 300 mayproceed to step 395 where the method ends.

In addition, although not specifically specified, one or more steps,functions, or operations of the method 300 may include a storing,displaying and/or outputting step as required for a particularapplication. In other words, any data, records, fields, and/orintermediate results discussed in the method 300 can be stored,displayed, and/or outputted either on the device executing therespective method or to another device, as required for a particularapplication. Furthermore, steps, blocks, functions, or operations inFIG. 3 that recite a determining operation or involve a decision do notnecessarily require that both branches of the determining operation bepracticed. In other words, one of the branches of the determiningoperation can be deemed as an optional step. Moreover, steps, blocks,functions, or operations of the above described method 300 can becombined, separated, omitted, and/or performed in a different order fromthat described above, without departing from the examples of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 depicts a high-level block diagram of a computing devicespecifically programmed to perform the functions described herein. Asdepicted in FIG. 4, the system 400 comprises one or more hardwareprocessor elements 402 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), amicroprocessor, or a multi-core processor), a memory 404 (e.g., randomaccess memory (RAM) and/or read only memory (ROM)), a module 405 foractivating antennas based upon a location and a movement of a group ofmobile endpoint devices, and various input/output devices 406 (e.g.,storage devices, including but not limited to, a tape drive, a floppydrive, a hard disk drive or a compact disk drive, a receiver, atransmitter, a speaker, a display, a speech synthesizer, an output port,an input port and a user input device (such as a keyboard, a keypad, amouse, a microphone and the like)). Although only one processor elementis shown, it should be noted that the computing device may employ aplurality of processor elements. Furthermore, although only onecomputing device is shown in the figure, if the method 300 as discussedabove is implemented in a distributed or parallel manner for aparticular illustrative example, i.e., certain steps of the above method300, or the entire method 300 is implemented across multiple or parallelcomputing devices, then the computing device of this figure is intendedto represent each of those multiple computing devices.

Furthermore, one or more hardware processors can be utilized insupporting a virtualized or shared computing environment. Thevirtualized computing environment may support one or more virtualmachines representing computers, servers, or other computing devices. Insuch virtualized virtual machines, hardware components such as hardwareprocessors and computer-readable storage devices may be virtualized orlogically represented.

It should be noted that the present disclosure can be implemented insoftware and/or in a combination of software and hardware, e.g., usingapplication specific integrated circuits (ASIC), a programmable gatearray (PGA) including a Field PGA, or a state machine deployed on ahardware device, a computing device or any other hardware equivalents,e.g., computer readable instructions pertaining to the method discussedabove can be used to configure a hardware processor to perform thesteps, functions and/or operations of the above disclosed method 300. Inone embodiment, instructions and data for the present module or process405 for activating antennas based upon a location and a movement of agroup of mobile endpoint devices (e.g., a software program comprisingcomputer-executable instructions) can be loaded into memory 404 andexecuted by hardware processor element 402 to implement the steps,functions or operations as discussed above in connection with theillustrative method 300. Furthermore, when a hardware processor executesinstructions to perform “operations,” this could include the hardwareprocessor performing the operations directly and/or facilitating,directing, or cooperating with another hardware device or component(e.g., a co-processor and the like) to perform the operations.

The processor executing the computer readable or software instructionsrelating to the above described method can be perceived as a programmedprocessor or a specialized processor. As such, the present module 405for activating antennas based upon a location and a movement of a groupof mobile endpoint devices (including associated data structures) of thepresent disclosure can be stored on a tangible or physical (broadlynon-transitory) computer-readable storage device or medium, e.g.,volatile memory, non-volatile memory, ROM memory, RAM memory, magneticor optical drive, device or diskette and the like. Furthermore, a“tangible” computer-readable storage device or medium comprises aphysical device, a hardware device, or a device that is discernible bythe touch. More specifically, the computer-readable storage device maycomprise any physical devices that provide the ability to storeinformation such as data and/or instructions to be accessed by aprocessor or a computing device such as a computer or an applicationserver. As such, the use of the terms “computer-readable storage device”or “computer-readable storage medium” affirmatively exclude the scope ofencompassing a signal per se.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example only, and nota limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of a preferred embodimentshould not be limited by any of the above-described example embodiments,but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims andtheir equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device comprising: a processor of a cellular network; and a computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising: detecting a group of mobile endpoint devices associated with a first location; activating a first antenna at a first cell site of the cellular network associated with the first location, in response to the detecting the group of mobile endpoint devices; detecting a movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices toward a second location; activating a second antenna at a second cell site of the cellular network associated with the second location, in response to detecting a type of application being used by the group of mobile endpoint devices moving toward the second location; and deactivating the first antenna, in response to the detecting the movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices toward the second location.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: allocating a first baseband unit of the cellular network to the first antenna, when the first antenna is activated; and deallocating the first baseband unit from the first antenna, when the first antenna is deactivated.
 3. The device of claim 2, wherein the operations further comprise: allocating a second baseband unit of the cellular network to the second antenna, when the second antenna is activated.
 4. The device of claim 1, wherein the detecting the group of mobile endpoint devices associated with the first location comprises: detecting a number of mobile endpoint devices greater than a threshold number of mobile endpoint devices having a same direction of movement and being present within a geofence associated with the first location, wherein the number of mobile endpoint devices comprises the group of mobile endpoint devices.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein the movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices toward the second location is detected when a threshold number of mobile endpoint devices from the group of mobile endpoint devices are present within a geofence associated with the second location.
 6. The device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: detecting the type of application being used by the group of mobile endpoint devices; and selecting the first antenna at the first cell site for activation based upon the type of application.
 7. The device of claim 6, wherein the first antenna is selected from among a plurality of antennas at the first cell site, wherein the plurality of antennas includes antennas for different frequency bands.
 8. A method comprising: detecting, by a processor of a cellular network, a group of mobile endpoint devices associated with a first location; activating, by the processor, a first antenna at a first cell site of the cellular network associated with the first location, in response to the detecting the group of mobile endpoint devices; detecting, by the processor, a movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices toward a second location; activating, by the processor, a second antenna at a second cell site of the cellular network associated with the second location, in response to detecting a type of application being used by the group of mobile endpoint devices moving toward the second location; and deactivating, by the processor, the first antenna, in response to the detecting the movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices toward the second location.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: allocating, by the processor, a first baseband unit of the cellular network to the first antenna, when the first antenna is activated; and deallocating, by the processor, the first baseband unit from the first antenna, when the first antenna is deactivated.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: allocating, by the processor, a second baseband unit of the cellular network to the second antenna, when the second antenna is activated.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the detecting the group of mobile endpoint devices associated with the first location comprises: detecting a number of mobile endpoint devices greater than a threshold number of mobile endpoint devices having a same direction of movement and being present within a geofence associated with the first location, wherein the number of mobile endpoint devices comprises the group of mobile endpoint devices.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein the movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices toward the second location is detected when a threshold number of mobile endpoint devices from the group of mobile endpoint devices are present within a geofence associated with the second location.
 13. The method of claim 8, further comprising: detecting, by the processor, the type of application being used by the group of mobile endpoint devices; and selecting, by the processor, the first antenna at the first cell site for activation based upon the type of application.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first antenna is selected from among a plurality of antennas at the first cell site, wherein the plurality of antennas includes antennas for different frequency bands.
 15. A computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor of a cellular network, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising: detecting a group of mobile endpoint devices associated with a first location; activating a first antenna at a first cell site of the cellular network associated with the first location, in response to the detecting the group of mobile endpoint devices; detecting a movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices toward a second location; activating a second antenna at a second cell site of the cellular network associated with the second location, in response to detecting a type of application being used by the group of mobile endpoint devices moving toward the second location; and deactivating the first antenna, in response to the detecting the movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices toward the second location.
 16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise: allocating a first baseband unit of the cellular network to the first antenna, when the first antenna is activated; deallocating the first baseband unit from the first antenna, when the first antenna is deactivated; and allocating a second baseband unit of the cellular network to the second antenna, when the second antenna is activated.
 17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the detecting the group of mobile endpoint devices associated with the first location comprises: detecting a number of mobile endpoint devices greater than a threshold number of mobile endpoint devices having a same direction of movement and being present within a geofence associated with the first location, wherein the number of mobile endpoint devices comprises the group of mobile endpoint devices.
 18. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the movement of the group of mobile endpoint devices toward the second location is detected when a threshold number of mobile endpoint devices from the group of mobile endpoint devices are present within a geofence associated with the second location.
 19. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise: detecting the type of application being used by the group of mobile endpoint devices; and selecting the first antenna at the first cell site for activation based upon the type of application.
 20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the first antenna is selected from among a plurality of antennas at the first cell site, wherein the plurality of antennas includes antennas for different frequency bands. 